Evaluation of small‐group teaching in human gross anatomy in a Caribbean medical school

Although there are a number of medical schools in the Caribbean islands, very few reports have come out so far in the literature regarding the efficacy of small‐group teaching in them. The introduction of small‐group teaching in the gross anatomy laboratory one and a half years ago at St. Matthew's University (SMU) on Grand Cayman appears to have had a significant positive impact on the academic achievement of students in anatomy. This study surveyed the responses of the students to the small‐group learning method in gross anatomy at SMU using a structured questionnaire. The results show that our students prefer this small‐group learning method over a completely self‐directed method in the gross anatomy lab because the study materials were carefully chosen and the study objectives were demonstrated by the resource person. However, teacher‐centered teaching was deliberately avoided by fostering problem‐solving skills in the anatomy lab sessions. Another aim of the small‐group teaching at SMU was to develop the interpersonal and communication skills of the students, which are important in their later education and career. Anat Sci Ed 1:19–22, 2008. © 2007 American Association of Anatomists.     

School leaders’ dilemmas and measures to instigate changes for inclusive education in Hong Kong

The roles of principal leadership in change management have long been documented. The key concern to examine in this study was the dilemmas and measures confronting principals’ when they led changes to instigate inclusive education in Hong Kong. Thus, this paper aims to report sources of dilemmas and how principals tackled them in the change process. Ten principals of schools recognized for effective inclusive education practices were interviewed in a qualitative study. Findings suggested that the process of leading change was very complex. Two dilemmas were identified: (a) principals’ struggles between benefits and issues of participating in inclusive education and (b) autocratic initial decisions versus need for staff involvement. The second dilemma stemmed from not involving key staff while the implementation required their active participation. Thus, the existing organizational culture and personnel capacities became obstacles required for the success of inclusive education. The leadership measures to tackle the obstacles began by building a shared vision which in turn required both transactional and transformational leadership activities in order to increase teacher commitment to reforms. This study has contributed to change leadership theories in affirming the need to include socio-political contexts in examining leadership decisions toward school reforms.     

校园电视与高校德育

电视是当今世界最具影响力的大众传媒之一，分析了校园电视与高校德育的相关性以及校园电视在高校德育中发挥的不可低估的作用，提出了办好校园电视节目的一些基本要求。     

Theoretical elastoplastic analysis for foundations with geosynthetic-encased columns

As a new technique in ground improvement, geosynthetic-encased columns (GECs) have promising applications in soft soil foundation. By assuming yielding occurs in the columns while the surrounding soil and the geosynthetic remain elastic, an elastoplastic analytical procedure for foundations improved by GECs is proposed. The radial stresses that the geosynthetic provides and the elastoplastic deformations of the foundation resting on a rigid base are derived. A comparison with finite element analysis shows that the proposed method is effective and can provide a reasonable prediction of a GEC??s deformation. Subsequent parametric analysis indicates that higher geosynthetic stiffness leads to better performance of the composite foundation. The optimum length of encasement is related to the load acting on the foundation and the permissible vertical and radial displacements of the column. Moreover, as the dilation angle of the column increases, the settlement decreases, especially under high loading. The influence of the encasement is more significant in soils with smaller elastic modulus.     

Depressed skull fractures: a pattern of abusive head injury in three older children

OBJECTIVE: To describe a pattern of abusive head injury in a series of children older than 4 years of age. METHODS: A hospital chart review of abused children with skull fractures from 1999 to 2001 was carried out. The clinical features, social background, and subsequent outcome and management are described. RESULTS: An 11-year-old girl and a pair of brothers of ages 7 and 9 were identified. The girl was attacked with a hammer during sleep by her stepmother, who committed suicide shortly afterwards. After craniotomy and intensive care, the child survived her multiple depressed fractures, intracranial bleeding, and brain contusion. Two brothers from a second family were attacked from behind with a hammer by their biological father, who was subsequently found to have undiagnosed schizophrenia. A depressed occipital fracture, without intracranial injury, was found in each child. The elder brother also had metacarpal fractures. Both children recovered without surgical intervention. CONCLUSION: A pattern of abusive head injury was described in older children with depressed skull fractures from blunt injury. The abusing parents were seriously mentally disturbed, and the abusive acts closely resembled child homicide.     

Component skills of text comprehension in less competent Chinese comprehenders

The present study examined the role of verbal working memory (memory span and tongue-twister), two-character Chinese pseudoword reading (two tasks), rapid automatized naming (RAN) (letters and numbers), and phonological segmentation (deletion of rimes and onsets) in inferential text comprehension in Chinese in 31 less competent comprehenders compared with 37 reading comprehension control students and 23 chronological age controls. It was hypothesized that the target students would perform poorly on these cognitive and linguistic tasks as compared with their controls. Furthermore, verbal working memory and pseudoword reading would explain a considerable amount of individual variation in Chinese text comprehension. RAN would have a nonsignificant role in text comprehension. Structural equation analyses and hierarchical multiple regression analyses generally upheld these hypotheses. Our findings support current literature of the role of verbal working memory in reading comprehension found in English. The results, however, suggest differential role of the constructs and the tasks in reading comprehension and provide some answers for comprehension impairment in Chinese students.     

Effects of a phonological awareness program on English reading and spelling among Hong Kong Chinese ESL children

This study investigated the effects of a 12-week language-enriched phonological awareness instruction on 76 Hong Kong young children who were learning English as a second language. The children were assigned randomly to receive the instruction on phonological awareness skills embedded in vocabulary learning activities or comparison instruction which consisted of vocabulary learning and writing tasks but no direct instruction in phonological awareness skills. They were tested on receptive and expressive vocabulary, phonological awareness at the syllable, rhyme and phoneme levels, reading, and spelling in English before and after the program implementation. The results indicated that children who received the phonological awareness instruction performed significantly better than the comparison group on English word reading, spelling, phonological awareness at all levels and expressive vocabulary on the posttest when age, general intelligence and the pretest scores were controlled statistically. The findings suggest that phonological awareness instruction embedded in vocabulary learning activities might be beneficial to kindergarteners learning English as a second language.     

Application of system dynamics for assessment of sustainable performance of construction projects

INTRODUCTION Sustainable development is commonly definedas meeting the needs of the present without compro-mising the ability of future generations to meet theirown needs (WCED, 1987). All industries, includingthe construction industry should contribute to themission. Compared to other industries, constructionactivities are generally considered to have more im-pact on the environment, which provides the basicconditions for the sustainability and development oflife on the Earth. The…     

Contextualising the career pathways of women principals in Hong Kong: a critical examination

The fields of gender and educational leadership have been enriched recently by analyses of national case studies from non-western contexts. By contextualising women’s career development, these studies highlight the importance of including experiences other than those generated from Anglo-American-Australian contexts, thus broadening our knowledge base for more nuanced theorisation in the field. This paper contributes a close examination of the career histories of eight female primary school principals in Hong Kong. Our analyses identify a range of facilitators, including the expansion of promotion opportunities, strong values placed on education and training, professional encouragement and support and help in relieving family responsibilities. Valuable these factors may be, but we argue that they are incidental, informal, familial and individual, and incur the costs of burn-out and guilt. The discussion not only underlines the significance of case study and cultural and contextual specificities, it also provides a nuanced understanding of Chinese patriarchy.     

我国少数民族本科预科课程教学定位的基本依据与原则探析

民族预科课程教学定位问题一直困扰着我国民族预科教育,影响教学质量的德定和提高.文章分析了预科课程教学的特殊性,从学生民族文化背景的多样性与教学标准统一要求相协调、知识传授与思想教育相结合、知识积累与学习能力发展相结合、以教师为主导与充分发挥学生主体性相结合、尊重学生文化背景与发挥多元文化的积极作用相结合等10个方面提出了少数民族本科预科课程教学定位的基本原则,旨在促进民族预科教学的科学化、规范化.